Envelope machinery



June 2, 1931. A, N W K 1,807,866

ENVELOPE MACHINERY Original Filed Feb. 25, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 N m BY H ATTORNEYS June 2, 1931. A. NOVKZK 1,807,866

ENVELOPE MACHINERY & iginal Filed Feb. 25, 1928- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Patented June 2, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE I ABRAHAM NOVICK, F FLUSHING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 1?. L. SMITHE MACHINE 00., INC., OF NEW YORK, It. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK ENVELOPE MACHINERY Application. filed February 25, 1928, Serial No. 256,915. Renewed October 18, 1930.

This invention relates to gumming fannedout paper blanks. and has for an object the presentation of the fanned out blanks for gumming with the blanks exactly aligned and evenly spaced so that each blank presents an even and uniform width of exposed margin for receiving the gum.

Forpurposes of illustration the invention is disclosed as embodied in a wide range, open side envelope machine of the kind disclosed in my pending application Serial No. 2el4,786, filed January 6, 1928.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary, plan view of the machine showing the particular part with which the present invention is concerned;

Figure 2 is a vertical, sectional elevation on the line 22 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a detail'view of the blank intercepting means on a larger scale than Figure 2, showing how one blank is intercepted and the immediately preceding blanks are lifted by the intercepting means and Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the mechanism for taking the blanks from the stack.

The present invention is designed to be incorporated in a machine of the kind disclosed in my pendin application Serial No. 2445 86 filed January 6, 1928, for mechanism for feeding sheets or blanks. and for illustrative purposes will be described as embodied in such machine. In the machine referred to, envelope blanks are withdrawn one by one from the top of a stack in such manner that they are arranged and advanced in fanned-out relation to a gumming apparatus. The mechanism for withdrawing the blanks from the stack is operated in definite timed relation so that successive blanks are presented to the gumming apparatus at regular intervals.

The mechanism for taking the blanks from the stack and the feeding means are, however,

somewhat inexact in their handling of the blanks, and as a result the advancing blanks or unevenly spaced condition.

It is therefore desirable to secure correct alignment of the blanks and unlform spacing thereof as they are delivered to the gummer so that an even and uniform margin of each blank will be presented to the gummer. The present invention has to do with the provision of means for securing this result.

The blanks are lifted singly from the top of a stack 1 by a pneumatic picker 2 carried by an arm 3. The picker 2 is caused to move up and down from the main shaft 4, by an operating train comprising a cam 5 fast on shaft 4, a bell crank 6 fast on a shaft 7 and urged toward cam 5 by a spring 8, a finger 9 fast on shaft 7 which engages and operates a bell crank consisting of cranks 10 and 11 and shaft 12, a connecting rod 13, and a yoke 14 carried by rod 13 which embraces the picker. Other mechanism, including a separator 15 for separating the blanks and starting them toward the gumming mechanism in fanned-out relation, is operated also from the main shaft, but as this mechanism is fully disclosed and is claimed in my pending application referred to, details thereof are omitted herein.

The blanks, as they are taken from the stack 1, are fed by a take-off roller 16, advanced in fanned-out relation, and delivered between a roll 17 and a conveyor belt 18 that runs on rollers 19 and 20. The blanks are carried upward beneath a guide plate 21. and thence along the horizontal stretch of the conveyor belt, which runs upon a table 22, being held down on the belt by rollers 23, which engage them with light pressure and thereby prevent them from becoming serionsly disarranged. Provision is made of collating mechanism at or near the delivery end of the conveyor belt 18 for intercepting the leading edge of eachblank as it nears the gummer and temporarily detaining it.

Such collating mechanism comprises vertically extending fingers 24 which are projectable into and out of the path of an on-v coming blank, and which are designed to be located to engage the angles formed by the junction of the bottom and side flaps of the blank. These fingers are operated by mecha-. msm tuned to produce one reciprocation for each envelope blank separated from the stack 1, and are therefore arranged to secure the exact alignment and spacing of the envelope blanks desired without causing any accumulation of the blanks and without missing any blank. The fingers are carried at the forward ends of arms 25 which extend rearwardly through guide blocks 26 supported in brackets 27, which brackets are adjustably mounted upon a cross-bar 28. The guide blocks 26 through which the arms 25 pass have threaded stems 29 projectingdownward through the brackets 27, and wing nuts 30 are provided for cooperating with such stems, whereby the guide blocks may be drawn down firmly for clamping the arms in the brackets. To provide for lateral adjust-' ment of the brackets 27 on the crossbar 28 each bracket is provided with a slot 31, a bolt 32 is passed through the slot and through an opening in the cross-bar, and a wing nut 33 is prOYided for securing the bracket in the desired position of adjustment. The cross-bar is secured at its opposite ends, by means of split clamping blocks 34, upon rods 35 guided at their upper ends in stationary guides 36 on the machine frame 37 and connected at their lower ends to cranks 38 carried by a rock shaft 39. The rock shaft 39 is rotated clockwise from cam 40 on the main criving shaft 4 of the machine, which cam transmits motion through a follower 41, a connecting rod 42 that carries the follower, and a crank 43, to the rock shaft 39. A spring 44 is connected to the crank 43, drawing the rock shaft counterclockwise when such movement is permittedby the cam 40. It will be seen that clockwise movement of the rock shaft is effective to move the fingers 24 downward out of the envelope blank path, and that counterclockwise movement of the rock shaft causes the fingers to be moved upward into blank intercepting position.

It will be observed that the. conveyor belt 18 is somewhat narrower than the body portion of an envelope blank and that the table 22 is, cut away at the collating station so that at this point it is of substantially no greater width than the conveyor belt. Provision is made of laterally adjustable plates 45 for supporting the envelope side flaps, which plates span the gap between the leading edge of the table and the gummer roll 46. These plates have downturned flanges 47 at the rear edges thereof which interlit with upturned flanges 48 of guide members 49 secured on the table.

The flap-supporting plates 45 have open ings hO formed therein to permit passage of the blank intercepting fingers 24 through thernf In order to, facilitate simultaneous lateral adjustment of the plates 45 and the fingers 24, recessed blocks or yokes 51 are secured to the lower faces of the plates, and

th rear or tai p ion Of h g r ying arms 25, are caused to extend into the recesses thereof. Due to this interfitting relation, lateral adjustment of the fingercarrying arms 25 is effective to produce corresponding adjustment of the plates 45.

It should be observed that the hold-down rollers which are designed to prevent disarrangement of the blanks on the conveyor belt 18 are omitted at the collating station so that a blank in position to be engaged by the collating lingers 24 is free from pressure and may be readily shifted with reference to the other blanks of the fanned-out pack. Hold-down rollers 52 are provided substantially in transverse alignment with the fingers 24. These rollers 52, however, are carried at the forward ends of rocking levers 53 and are held against the blanks with only a light pressure by springs 54 connected to the levers 53, so that the fingers 24 are effective when raised to lift such rollers away from the blank in collating position.

\Vhen the fingers 24 are withdrawn from the path of the intercepted blank, such blank is immediately drawn forward by frictional engagement with the next preceding blank onto the gummer roll. The blanks, in accurately aligned and spaced condition, are fed beneath a series of hold-down rollers 55 around the gumming roll 46, and are caused to pass beneath and in engagement with a wick 57 of a gum box 58. This wick 57 is continuously in engagement with the work so, that each blank receives upon the trailing margin of its outer face a supply of adhesive.

After the blanks have passed the gum box they are delivered onto a dryer (not shown) and thence may proceed to other instrumentalities (not shown) for completing the envelope.

lVhile I have illustarted and described in detail certain preferredforms of my invention, it is to be understood that changes may be made therein and the invention embodied in other strnctines. I do not, therefore, desire to limit myself to the specific constructions illustrated, but intend to cover my invention broadly in whatever form its principle may be utilized;

I claim:

1. In a gumming apparatus, in combination, means for feeding blanks in a fanned out condition, a gummer adapted to operate on fanned out blanks, and collating means for individually aligning the fanned out blanks to render more uniform the. exposed gum-receiving margins of the blanks before they reach the gummer.

2. In a gumming apparatus, in combination, means for feeding blanks in a fanned out condition, a g ummer adapted to operate on fanned out blanks, and means for collating the fanned out blanks to readjust them with relation to one another to render more uniform the exposed gum-receiving margins of the blanks as they approach the gummer.

3. In a gumming apparatus, in combination a gummer adapted to operate on fanned out blanks, means for feeding blanks in a fanned out condition, and in definitely timed relation, abutment means movable to and from position to intercept the leading edge of a blank to readjust it relative to its companions to cause a predetermined marginal portion to be exposed for gumming, and means operating the abutment means in timed relation with the blanks.

4. In a gumming apparatus, in combination, means for feeding fanned out blanks in definitely timed relation past a collating station, means movable into position to intercept the leading edge of each blank as it arrives at the collating station, means to withdraw the intercepting means intermittently, in timed relation to the feeding of the blanks, means for maintaining the adjustment thus secured, and means for gumming the blanks after they have passed the collating station.

5. In a gumming apparatus, in combination, a gum applying member, a feed cylinder facing the gum applying member, a conveyor for delivering blanks substantially tangentially to the cylinder so that each blank has the leading margin of its surface that faces the cylinder exposed, and the trailing margin of its opposite surface exposed, and means located at the same side of the conveyor as the feed cylinder and operated in timed relation with the advance of the blanks to move into intercepting relation to the leading edge of each blank as it approaches the cylinder to assure uniform spacing and correct alignment of the blanks so that a uniform trailing margin of each blank will be exposed to the gum applying member.

6. In a gumming apparatus, in combina tion, a gummer, means for feeding envelope blanks to the gummer in definitely timed relation and in fanned out condition to have gum applied to the trailing sealing flaps thereof, and means operable in synchronism with the feeding of the envelope blanks to move into intercepting relation to the leading edge of each blank as it approaches the gummer to space the blanks evenly, said intercepting means comprising stops engageable with the blanks at the vertices of the angles formed by the bottom and side flaps thereof.

7 In a gumming apparatus, in combination, a gummer, means for feeding envelope blanks to the gummer in definitely timed relation and in fanned out condition to have gum applied to the trailing sealing flaps thereof, means operable in synchronism with the feeding of the envelope blanks to move into intercepting relation to the leading edge of each blank as it approaches the gummer to space the blanks evenly, said intercepting means comprising stops engageable with the blanks at the vertices of the angles formed by the bottom and side flaps thereof, and means for effecting relative lateral adjustment of the stops in accordance with the size of the blanks.

8. In a gumming apparatus, in combination, a gummer, means for feeding envelope stops in the direction of blank feed to enable them to correctly align the blanks. r

9. In combination, a gum applying member, means for feeding a pack of blanks in fanned out condition past a collating station to the gum applying member, means at the collating station for intercepting the leading edge of a blank and readjusting it relative to the pack, and means for pressing the pack against the feeding means before it reaches the collating station and after it leaves the collating station, but leaving the blank which is in position to be shifted free from direct pressure.

10. In a blank feeding and collating mechanism, in combination, means for feeding the blanks to and from a collating station in fanned out condition, stops movable into position to intercept the leading edge of each blank at the collating station, and pressing means yieldingly bearing against the pack from the side of the blank pack opposite the stops, and substantially in transverse align ment therewith, said stops being effective to lift the blanks of the pack immediately in advance of the blank to be intercepted and also to lift the pressing means whereby the blank to be intercepted is relieved of pressure and the stops are enabled to move completely across the path of such blank.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature to this specification.

' ABRAHAM NOVIGK. 

